Overview

The Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Notice of Funding Opportunity supports critical minerals and materials (CMM) as building blocks for technologies foundational to U.S. energy dominance, national security, and industrial competitiveness. Administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Golden Field Office, this programme aims to support collaborative industry partnerships to prototype and pilot innovative processing technologies that are currently proven only at bench scale. The CMM Accelerator will advance mid-stage innovations through validation, benchmarking, access to national lab test beds, testing in industry-relevant environments, technoeconomic analysis, and life-cycle assessment. The programme establishes a pipeline to support technology maturation to ultimately unlock private capital investments. Technologies resulting from the programme are expected to have a path to domestic commercialization within three to seven years.

Topic Areas

The NOFO is divided into three Topic Areas, with sub-topics for Topic Areas 1 and 3.

Topic Area 1: Production and material efficiency for critical materials including rare earth elements. Sub-topics include:

• 1A: Recovery and production from postindustrial manufacturing scrap
• 1B: Recovery and production from postconsumer scrap (with an emphasis on electronic waste and drivetrains)
• 1C: Recovery and production from combinations of feedstocks including mine tailings, postindustrial scrap, and postconsumer scrap

Topic Area 2: Processes to refine and alloy gallium, gallium nitride, germanium, and silicon carbide for use in semiconductor applications.

Topic Area 3: Cost-competitive direct lithium extraction, separation, and processing. Sub-topics include:

• 3A: Cost-competitive direct lithium extraction
• 3B: Advancing pre- and post-treatment and disposal technologies for direct lithium extraction and from geothermal brines
• 3C: Exploration and characterization of critical materials and rare earth elements from volcanically hosted geothermal systems

Funding and Benefits

• Program Funding: $69,000,000
• Expected Awards: 44
• Award Minimum: $1
• Award Maximum: $3,000,000
• Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative agreement
• Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: Yes
• Assistance Listing: 81.086 — Conservation Research and Development

The programme will also leverage other DOE lab-based activities, such as the Critical Materials Innovation Hub (CMI Hub) and the Minerals to Materials Supply Chain Research Facility (METALLIC).

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are unrestricted. Additional eligibility information is available in Section II.A. of the full NOFO.

Deadline and Timeline

Each Topic Area has its own application deadline. The overall closing date is July 23, 2026. Key dates from the modifications include:

• Letter of Intent (LOI) due date extended to April 24, 2026
• Topic Area 1 application due date extended to May 29, 2026
• Topic Area 2 application due date extended to June 25, 2026
• Topic Area 3 application due date extended to July 23, 2026

Hard deadlines are enforced by the eXCHANGE system; the APPLY and SUBMIT buttons disable automatically at the defined submission deadlines. Applicants experiencing technical difficulties prior to a deadline should contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk at exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Late submissions due to technical difficulties beyond the applicant's control may be accepted if the applicant contacts the helpdesk and submits through eXCHANGE within 24 hours of the posted deadline.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted via eXCHANGE under the following specific topic area identifiers:

• Topic Area 1: DE-TA1-0003589
• Topic Area 2: DE-TA2-0003589
• Topic Area 3: DE-TA3-0003589

A Teaming Partner List is available in eXCHANGE under TPL-0000069 to facilitate formation of new project teams. The list will remain open and updated at least weekly until the close of the Full Application period.

Funding Opportunity Number: DE-FOA-0003589

Contact Information

For inquiries, contact the NOFO Inbox at cmmacceleratornofo@ee.doe.gov. For technical assistance with eXCHANGE, contact exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov or EERE eXCHANGE System Administrators at EERE-eXCHANGESupport@hq.doe.gov. Additional information and documents are available through the CMEI Funding Opportunity Exchange.